lobbyist

noun

lob·​by·​ist ˈlä-bē-ist 

plural lobbyists

: one who conducts activities aimed at influencing or swaying public officials and especially members of a legislative body on legislation : a person engaged in lobbying public officials

The new rule says that if you were a registered lobbyist in the past two years, you can't work for the administration on any issue you touched. After you leave government, you can't lobby the administration at all.

—Jacob Weisberg

Because so many lobbyists have past experience on Capitol Hill, they usually have personal ties both to members of congress and to their key staffers, who vet and prioritize the earmark requests.

—Ken Silverstein

Examples of lobbyist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So for the clean energy transition, the loudly ticking clock could be a bigger threat than Big Oil lobbyists ever were. —Tim McDonnell, semafor.com, 17 Oct. 2025

Throughout this legislative session, a total of 917 bills awaited the governor’s verdict, according to longtime lobbyist Chris Micheli. —Calmatters, Oc Register, 16 Oct. 2025

Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist at Public Citizen, a progressive think tank, echoed Clark’s view. —Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 14 Oct. 2025

While married, Flora had an affair with a lobbyist. —Kate Wolffe, Sacbee.com, 11 Oct. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1842, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for lobbyist

• hobbyist